Thursday, October 17, 2013

I took a few weeks off but I am getting back to blogging slowly, but surely!I always look forward to fall/holiday trends especially nail polish trends. I am drawn to rich matte hues with touches of shimmer.

The Deborah Lippman holiday collection "Silk" coming out in November is perfection. The collection includes a dark, vampy color, a white that leans silver in certain lighting and a gorgeous, shimmery red that I will be using on repeat!

The darker of the three, "Harem Silks From Bombay", was my choice for my pedicure this week.

I always start my pedicure with a good base coat. The Deborah Lippman Fast Girls Base Coat is a great option. I apply the first coat and let it air dry for a few minutes before applying the second coat. Once the second coat is applied I usually use my blow dryer on cool to dry my nails for 2-3 minutes before applying the top coat. A great top coat to try is the Deborah Lippman On A Clear Day Top Coat. Once the top coat is applied I once again pull out the handy blow dryer and use the cool setting to dry my nails for 3-5 minutes. The last step in my pedicure is applying drying drops which I swear by! My favorite is OPI Dry Laquer Drying Drops.

And the final result...a perfect fall-ready pedicure!

The lighter color, "Pseudo Silk Kimono", is the perfect pairing for a manicure. I will be trying it out this week!

Friday, September 20, 2013

This past week was definitely challenging and I am not one
to usually over-share on the blog. However, I felt this was worth sharing as
sometimes sharing can help others who may encounter a similar situation.

Last Friday went like many of my typical Fridays go…standard
Define body workout,
lunch and shopping with my mom and then dinner with my in-laws.

Being 31 weeks pregnant there are many third trimester issues such as aches and pains
that pop up. So, when I started having abdominal cramps after dinner on Friday I
figured it was nothing or the Round Ligament Pain so many have told me about.

As the evening went on and 12 am became 4 am, the pain
became increasingly worse. I was literally doubled over in pain and couldn’t
find comfort in any position. At that point I did what I swore I wouldn’t
do…went to Web MB to self-diagnose. The problem was that there were about 20+
different causes for my symptoms. I have never been terribly ill, had any
surgeries or health issues in the past…so, how would I truly know my tolerance for
pain and what is normal? I am not one to be an alarmist, but being pregnant and
knowing there is another life to protect, things are very different.

Early Saturday morning I contacted the OB Gyn on call at my
doctor’s office and she advised me to go to labor and delivery at the hospital.
I was a little taken aback because I was expecting her to tell me what I was
experiencing was normal and not to worry. This past weekend happened to be the
one weekend the entire year my husband was out of town, so my mom quickly
picked me up and we headed to the hospital. Saturday was a pretty short visit.
They hooked me up to check the baby’s heart rate and to make sure I wasn’t
having early contractions, which I wasn’t.The baby looked great so I was feeling much better and at
peace with that information. They didn’t do any blood work, but did a few other
tests that led them to diagnose a UTI, which they thought could be causing the
pain. They released me after 3.5 hours and told me to rest. I wasn’t feeling any relief other than
knowing that the baby looked great.

The next 32 hours the pain became unbearable and by late
Sunday night I looked at my husband and said “I know something is very wrong,
this pain cannot be normal”.I was
hesitant to call my doctor because I was cleared the day before and didn’t want
to seem like a crazy person. My husband convinced me to call my doctor first thing Monday morning.
The nurse said to immediately go back to labor and delivery. We were there by
10:45 am and I was promptly hooked back up to the monitors (baby was still
good) and they decided take blood. They advised me not to eat anything in case
they found any issues with my blood.

After about 3 hours my doctor came in and said my white
blood cell count was slightly elevated and she did not think this was round
ligament pain or anything associated with a UTI. Now, her suspicion was
appendicitis. I remained calm and felt pretty positive that everything would be
fine and it wasn’t going to be anything serious…hoping for the best. :)She sent the surgeon in
2 hours later to examine me and get her opinion. It was quickly apparent that
the surgeon was concerned. She wasn’t expecting me to be in so much pain. By
this time it was around 4:30 pm on Monday and she ordered 3 different types of
ultrasounds to see if they could see my appendix and the area around it. She
was worried it would be difficult this far along in my pregnancy. So, the plan
was to see if the ultrasound would show anything and if it didn’t I would have
an MRI. By around 12:00 am they had done 3 ultrasounds and an MRI (which was
one of the scariest parts of all of this) and had come to the conclusion that all
signs led to appendicitis. I needed to have surgery to remove my appendix and
they needed to do it fast. My husband, all of my parents and in-laws were at the hospital,
so I was grateful to have so much support when finding out. I was quickly
prepped for surgery, which began around 1 am and would last 45 minutes. It was
really scary, but I was confident in my doctor and my surgeon’s decision that
this was what needed to happen in order for me and baby to be okay.

This was my first surgery ever, so being put under was a new
experience and wow, it happened fast. I vaguely remember waking up in recovery
and being told that it WAS NOT my appendix after all. They found that a cyst had developed on my fallopian tube and had completely wrapped around it. It
was starting to become necrotic which can be dangerous. Although this might not
be super common, women are at greater risk of this happening during pregnancy.
The surgery team was amazing and was able to remove the cyst without harm to my
fallopian tube. They were able to do the surgery laparoscopically so the
incisions are small.

I remained in the hospital for the next day and night to be
monitored and I was so lucky to have some of the best nurses at Methodist
taking care of me. I was warned that in the 24 hours after surgery I could
experience contractions…and I did. That was painful and a little scary but they
were able to give me medicine to control them. Wednesday morning my OB Gyn and
surgeon came in to check me out and both gave me the green light to go home.
That was the best news I could have possibly gotten.

I have now been home for 2 full days and I am feeling so
much better each day. Baby is moving a ton which hurts and makes me so happy at the same time! I wanted to share this with you because I think it is SO
important for us to listen to our bodies and know when something doesn't seem right,
it probably isn’t. That was my struggle, and now I know and will always
remember it is better to listen and go get checked out than to worry and
possibly miss something that could be serious.I cannot begin to thank my family and friends enough for all of their texts, calls and generosity. I truly feel so fortunate and very loved.

Today I am almost 32 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby girl
and couldn’t be more grateful. My baby shower is tomorrow and I can’t wait to
celebrate with my closest friends and family. I am looking forward to a relaxing over next 8 weeks and the arrival of my little girl!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

By now I am confident you know of the Warby Parker eyewear collection...

if not, you're about to!

Warby Parker was founded just 3 years ago by 4 guys who had a vision to bring affordable chic eyewear, both optical and sunglasses, to the masses all while maintaining a mission. That mission was to have a "buy a pair, give a pair" program where every pair of Warby Parker glasses purchased, a pair is distributed to someone in need.

Non-prescription glasses are $95 and prescription glasses are $150...this is amazing considering the price of many of the lines out there today + you get to feel good about your purchase!

As the busy streets of NYC are bustling with New York Fashion Week goers today, Warby Parker is launching their fall 2013 collection which, I have to say, is to die for. I was immediately on board when they asked me to help with the launch of the fall collection!

The collection was inspired by the early 1960's in America when social change was nearing take-off.

This collection debuts 5 new styles and 15 beautifully designed frames in a mix of materials and gorgeous autumnal colors with stainless steel-rimmed lenses. Each named as a bow to some of their favorite literary references of the time.